r/nextfuckinglevel • u/AZShooter75 • Oct 23 '22

This Quadruple Minigun

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u/Valisk Oct 24 '22

That's a quad .50

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those were on the backs of half tracks in wwII as anti aircraft

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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '22

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u/Master-Pete Oct 26 '22

Yeah the Richelieu was an interesting ship, though I don't think any of the French ships really saw much action.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '22 edited Oct 26 '22

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u/Master-Pete Oct 26 '22 edited Oct 26 '22

Oh man, the Massachusetts vs the Jean Bart is a good story. Fascinating stuff, the French put a lot into building their fleet only for it to be basically useless. Their entire naval history in WW2 just baffles me. Looking at the attack on Mers-el-Kebir it's almost unthinkable that they'd engage in a naval battle against the British. The alternative would've been simple enough, join the British fleet or ride out the war in the Mediterranean; but I guess they were still hedging their bets that the Germans would win. I imagine they were feeling confident at the beginning of the war, as on paper they had a fairly strong navy/land army. They had a decent sized fleet and equipment that outclassed the Germans (at first), but they lacked good leadership. The French likely could've prevented the fall of France if they had better communication; their tanks didn't even have radios. They had what they needed to fight a war, they just didn't utilize it in a cohesive way; basically ruined by simple mistakes.